Radio Atlantic, IA – AM 1220

Official: Onslaught of Iowa, Neb. tornadoes rare

October 5th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A National Weather Service meteorologist says Friday evening’s tornado-spawning storms in northeastern Nebraska and northwestern Iowa were unusual for this time of year. Meteorologist Mike Fuhs in the service’s Sioux Falls, S.D., office says it’s unusual to get “not just this many tornadoes this late, but tornadoes this strong.” As many as nine tornadoes hit the area from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Friday, and some “were quite powerful,” according to Fuhs.

Fuhs says a couple of the tornadoes are estimated to have been one-quarter to one-half mile wide. He says it’s too early to estimate where the tornadoes will rank on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which ranges from the weak EF0 to the top-of-the-scale EF5.